VIII. Gay Games Cologne 2010

The general conditions could not have been better: on a beautiful Saturday morning about 30 golfers met on Cologne’s north side and got a taste of the Gay Games. The Golf Preview Tournament of the Gay Games VIII Cologne 2010 in “Clark’s Golf World” was very well received.

„Golf it Cologne – Be part of it”

14 participants signed up for the “Golf Tournament to promote tolerance” and conquered the 18-hole course. They wanted to show people can participate in sports together regardless of sexual orientation.

Gays and lesbians encountered heterosexuals – in small groups they made their way around the golf course and tried to sink their balls into the 18 holes in just over 70 strokes. “It’s a lot of fun! You meet new people, don’t need to hide – it’s nice to be able to just be yourself“, said an elated golfer, Andrea.

12 participants started the test round at the same time and got to try the sport. Under the professional instruction of golf professional Syd Webb the participants learned to put, chip and drive. “Awesome – just to try golf out,“ said participant Hanjo.          

“You can just forget about the daily rut and get away from it all.” Teammate Pit continued, “I always thought I had some motor skills, but here I’m just a beginner. I bet I’ll be sore tomorrow!”

So golf proved to be a fun sport. “We wanted to draw attention to the Gay Games and gather first experiences in the competition“, said Gay Games spokesman Ingo Schneider. “We will use our preview tournaments to motivate people to participate, and especially to prepare Cologne for the games.”

Golf is one of 33 sports to be offered in two years at the Gay Games VIII Cologne 2010. A total of 12,000 participants from more than 70 countries will compete and celebrate the festival of open games – free of discrimination.